Culver City, Calif (December 3, 2007) – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to release THE STANLEY KRAMER FILM COLLECTION, from the acclaimed Hollywood producer/director Stanley Kramer, whose library of 35 films was nominated for a combined 80 Oscars over the course of his storied career. Responsible for creating some of the most socially-minded films of the ‘50s and ‘60s, Kramer tackled subjects ranging from racism, fascism, nuclear war and the marginalized individual, and in the process became one of the most revered individuals in the history of the entertainment industry. Including multiple Academy Award-winners Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner and Ship of Fools, as well as audience favorites The Wild Ones, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T and The Member of the Wedding, THE STANLEY KRAMER FILM COLLECTION will be available on February 12th for a SRP of $59.95, boasting a wealth of bonus material lovingly created in conjunction with Kramer’s widow, Karen Sharpe Kramer, and the Stanley Kramer Estate.

His films showcase a virtual “who’s who” from the golden age of Hollywood, having directed 14 different actors in Academy Award®-nominated performances that include Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Spencer Tracy, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Oskar Werner, Michael Dunn, Simone Signoret, Katharine Hepburn, Cecil Kellaway and Beah Richards. In total, Kramer's films were nominated for 80 Academy Awards®, with the result of 16 wins. Kramer is a six-time Academy Award® Nominee for Best Picture* and three-time nominee for Best Director**.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967)
When Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton) brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), home to San Francisco her meet her affluent parents, played by the incomparable Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn, their liberal sensibilities are challenged because he is a black man. Prentice is perfect in almost every way - accomplished doctor, well-mannered, well-dressed and handsome - but it is his skin color that unnerves them. Radical in its time, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner was an examination of race and class issues projected through a comedic lens. These issues were dealt with on multiple fronts, from internalized racism (the black housekeeper) to unexpected tolerance (the family priest), and as well as held a mirror up to white liberalism showing that it was not always what it professed to be. Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner celebrates the 40th Anniversary of its theatrical release and will also be offered by itself in a Special Anniversary Edition on February 12th. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards® for Best Actor (Spencer Tracy), Actor in a Supporting Role (Cecil Kellaway), Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn – won the Academy Award®), Actress in a Supporting Role (Beah Richards), Art Direction (Frank Tuttle and Robert Clatworthy), Film Editing (Robert C. Jones), Music – Scoring of Music / Adaptation or Treatment (Frank DeVol), Writing – Story and Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen (William Rose – won the Academy Award®), Best Picture and Directing (Stanley Kramer). Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner is not rated and has a running time of 107 minutes.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner - DVD BONUS FEATURES
Introductions by:
Steven Spielberg
Tom Brokaw
Karen Kramer (Stanley’s widow)
Quincy Jones
5 Featurettes
The Making of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner – Part I & 11
Part I: A Love Story of Today
Part II: A Special Kind of Love – interviews with actors and filmmakers who were part of the film and fans of the film
Stanley Kramer: A Man’s Search for Truth – filmmakers and historians talk about Stanley Kramer and his work
Stanley Kramer’s acceptance speech of the Irving Thalberg Award at the 1962 Academy Awards
2007 Producers Guild “Stanley Kramer” Award presented to Al Gore for An Inconvenient Truth. The award was introduced by Harrison Ford
Photo Gallery

Theatrically released in 1967, this film was directed by Stanley Kramer, written by William Rose and produced by Stanley Kramer and George Glass. It stars Katherine Houghton, Sydney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Beah Richards, Roy Glenn, Cecil Kellaway and Isabel Sanford.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)
Written by the beloved Dr. Seuss, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is a musical fantasy that delves into the mind of Bart Collins (Tommy Rettig, “Lassie”) a young boy who hates playing the piano. One night his nightmare takes him to a surreal land run by a maniacal piano teacher. This tyrant owns a gigantic piano which he forces Bart and 499 other boys to play (with their 5,000 fingers). However, not all hope is lost; with the aid of a plumber named August Zabladowski (Peter Lind Hayes, “The Peter Lind Hayes Show”) the boy creates a noise-sucking machine that destroys the mega-piano and sets the boys free. In the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of OZ, this film illuminates a bizarre world where reality and fantasy intersect. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T was nominated for an Academy Award® for Music – Scoring of a Musical Picture (Morris Stoloff and Frederick Hollander). This title is not rated and has a running time of 89 minutes.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T - DVD BONUS FEATURES
Introduction by Karen Kramer
Two Featurettes
Dr. T. on Screen – Cathy Lind Hayes, George Chakiris and others talk about the film
A Little Nightmare Music – Michael Feinstein talks about the music of the film
Photo Gallery

Theatrically released in 1953, this film is directed by Roy Rowland, written by Dr. Seuss and Allan Scott and produced by Stanley Kramer. It stars Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried and Tommy Rettig.

The Wild One (1953)
In one of his most famous roles, Marlon Brando stars in this outlaw biker film as gang leader Johnny Strabler. This film is inspired by an incident that happened on the Fourth of July 1946, when a group of 4,000 motorcyclists invaded the quiet California community of Hollister. The bikers were more rebel rousers than actual threats, but things slowly unraveled between the gang and the townspeople. Predating Rebel Without a Cause by two years, The Wild One is one of the first films to deal with the generation gap, a theme echoed in numerous teen movies of the ‘50s. The Wild One is not rated and has a running time of 79 minutes.

Wild One - DVD BONUS FEATURES
Introduction by Karen Kramer
Commentary with author and film historian Jeanine Basinger
Two Featurettes
Hollister, California: Bikers, Booze and the Big Picture – About Hollister, CA, the town the where the film is based. Interviews with bikers and residents of Hollister
Brando: An Icon is Born – Interviews with Taylor Hackford, Dennis Hopper and Karen Kramer about Marlon Brando

Theatrically released in 1953, this film was directed by Laslo Benedek, screenplay by Ben Maddow and John Paxton and is based on “The Cyclists Raid” by Frank Rooney. It was produced by Stanley Kramer and stars Marlon Brando and Mary Murphy.

The Member of the Wedding (1952)
Based on the 1946 novel by Carson McCullers, The Member of the Wedding is the story of Frankie Addams (Julie Harris, East of Eden), an awkward adolescent tomboy. Rejected by the other girls in her peer group, her only friends are the family cook and her seven-year-old cousin. Her loneliness transports her to a make-believe world where she accompanies her brother and his new bride on their honeymoon. The film offers an insightful look into loneliness, adolescence and the trials and tribulations of growing up. The Member of the Wedding was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Actress (Julie Harris). The title is not rated and has a run time of 93 minutes.

The Member of the Wedding - DVD BONUS FEATURES
Introduction by Karen Kramer
Commentary with Author and McCullers biographer Professor Virginia Spencer Carr
Two Featurettes
The World of Carson McCullers – a biography
The Journey from Stage to Film –Kevin Spacey, Virginia Carr and Karen Kramer talk about the making of the film
Photo Montage with a note from Julie Harris

Theatrically released in 1952, this film was directed by Fred Zinnemann, screenplay by Edna and Edward Anhalt and adapted from Carson McCullers novel of the same name. It was produced by Stanley Kramer, Edna and Edward Anhalt and stars Ethel Waters, Julie Harris, Brandon de Wilde and Arthur Franz.

Ship of Fools (1965)
Adapted from the novel of the same name, this film is a series of overlapping stories about several passengers on a ship making a trans-Atlantic voyage to 1930s pre-Hitler Germany. Aboard this ocean liner are wealthy Jewish men, bitter lovers, sleazy dancers, Nazi supporters and sugar field workers returning to Spain after a season in Cuba. Lumped together they create a hot bed of disillusionment, prejudice and delusions of grandeur. Ship of Fools won Academy Awards® for Best Art Direction– Set Direction and Best Cinematography. It was nominated for Academy Awards® for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Oskar Werner), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Michael Dunn), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Simone Signoret), Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (Bill Thomas and Jean Louis), Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Abby Mann) and Best Picture (Stanley Kramer). This title is not rated and has a run time of 149 minutes.

Ship of Fools - DVD BONUS FEATURES
Introduction by Karen Kramer
Two Featurettes
On Board the Ship of Fools – Cast and crew reminisce about Stanley Kramer and making the movie
Voyage on a Soundstage – photography, cinematography and how this film was shot
Photo Gallery

Theatrically released in 1965, this film was directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, screenplay by Abby Mann and adapted from the novel by Katherine Ann Porter. It stars Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Elizabeth Ashley and George Segal.

Regarding Ship of Fools- this is already out in fullscreen, which makes me wonder- was this actually even shot in any kind of widescreen format?

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Would love it if they would release "Death of a Salesman" (1951) Kramer didn't direct it but he did produce it and it's been unavailable (except in some very bad low label VHS print) for 20 years - It was nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor - though the late Arthur Miller wrote wrote the play didn't like the film very much.

Supporter

Given that it's from 1965, I'd frankly be surprised if it wasn't @ least composed for 1.66:1. I haven't been able to confirm the shooting format yet, but will advise as soon as I know.

"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player."-- Roger Ebert

shocking Columbia/Sony is sitting on couple of Kramer films he directed that has never been out on DVD (BLESS THE BEAST AND THE CHILDREN, RPM, OKLAHOMA CRUDE) its amusing they choses 5,000 FINGETS OF DR T over those.

As Sony did with the Frank Capra and Cary Grant collections, repackage of previous released titles. At least Capra and Grant had a film in each collection that had not been previously released on DVD. Despite the extras, I will pass on this collection even if Ship of Fools is widescreen.

"Get a director and a writer and leave them alone. That`s how the best pictures get made" - William "Wild Bill" Wellman

OKLAHOMA CRUDE is one of Kramer's best and RPM is a hoot. I am surprised that Sony/MGM/UA/Fox/Tom Cruise has not brought out NOT AS A STRANGER or THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA. Well, maybe not that surprised....

In both the Capra and Grant collections, IIRC, there was more than one re-released title that had an improved transfer so it wasn't simply a straight repackage; rathe nice, space saviing collections that (once I'd unloaded the dupes) didn't cost that much.

I'm up for this one too, but probably in a future sale

So many films, so little time...Film Journal BlogLt. Col. Thursday: Beaufort; no preliminary nonsense with him, no ceremonial phrasing. Straight from the shoulder as I tell you, do you hear me? They're recalcitrant swine and they must feel it...

Owner

These are from all new HD transfers of each film. The Ship of
Fools transfer was of the theartical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. When
that title was released some years ago on DVD there had not been
a letterbox transfer created, so that is at least one reason that
accounted for the first release in full screen. Sony paid particular
attention to the new transfer of 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T and hope
people see a noticeable upgrade. That film has quite a few built-in
problems due to processing issues with the original negative back
in the 50's, so Sony tried to clean-up those things as best a possible.

i picked up the Stanley Kramer Collection. The extras on each disc are excellent. SHIP OF FOOLS is anamorphic but looks terribly grainy for a new transfer....Very disappointing! MEMBER OF THE WEDDING has a greensh tint throughout the black and white film...what happened? On a positive note 5000 FINGERS OF DR T looks significantly better than the previous DVD release.

Hi - coming out of lurksville for the first time. I agree about Dr. T - much nicer transfer. Ship Of Fools - yes, grainy, but happy to have it in its oar. I also thought Guess Who's Coming To Dinner looked much better than older transfer. Haven't looked at others yet.

Sony paid particular
attention to the new transfer of 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T and hope
people see a noticeable upgrade. That film has quite a few built-in
problems due to processing issues with the original negative back
in the 50's, so Sony tried to clean-up those things as best a possible.

HOLY MOLY!!!! YOU JUST SOLD ME ON THIS!!! RUNNING OUT TO BUY IT A.S.A.P.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!